Consider Work Order for Sunwood Drive Roundabout Streetscape Design

At the September 27, 2016 Work Session, the City Council requested a discussion on streetscape design for the Sunwood Drive Roundabout in The COR. This discussion occurred as part of Council Input. Consensus of the City Council was to pull this improvement project from the broader 'Corridor Improvement' initiative of the Strategic Plan, which aims to improve the viewshed of key corridors and nodes.

The discussion from the September 27 Work Session is below:

[Kuzma] stated that there was past discussion with doing something at the roundabout and noted that he would like to bring back that item for discussion. 

City Administrator Ulrich noted that item was lumped into the corridor discussions but stated that if that is a high priority item, it could be pulled out for separate discussion.  He confirmed that staff could bring that forward for future discussion.  He complimented the public works crews that did a great job mowing around The COR areas this summer.

30 minutes

In order to frame the discussion, Staff has obtained a quote from WSB for Streetscape Design Services to prepare Concept Layout and Engineer's Estimates. The total amount for the services would be a not to exceed $11,989.00. This would allow the City Council to evaluate alternatives and clarify the scope and acceptable costs to achieve the desired outcome.

This step would not take the City all the way to construction. Future steps would include final design and bid documents. Optional future steps could also include bid management, construction administration, and field inspections. Staff will provide a more detailed estimate of these future costs at the meeting. Staff is working with WSB to finalize these numbers.

There are additional optional services to consider with this first step. A 3D model and animated fly-through could be added at an amount of $7,500. Additional renderings come at a cost of $2,500 per rendering. At this time, Staff is not recommending these additional services. Staff will re-evaluate at key points in the process and review with the City Council at that time.

Alternative #1 - Recommend that the City Council approve the Work Order for Streetscape Design.

Alternative #2 - Recommend that the City Council authorize a Request for Proposals (RFP). Given that the scope of services is less than $40,000, the City's Finance Policy does not require this step. These services fit in nicely with WSB's assistance with land use planning for The COR.

Alternative #3 - Recommend that the City Council authorize design services, but complete in house. This step would extend the completion date of the design due to current workloads. Additionally, the City may lose out on some innovative design approaches. Finally, having detailed designs and estimates will reduce the chance of change-orders and unexpected cost overruns during construction.

Alternative #4 - Recommend that the City Council not authorize design services and direct installation without formal design. This option is not recommended. In addition to the steps outlined above, it is Staff's understanding that the scope is more than just landscaping (street lighting, placemaking elements, pedestrian elements, etc.).

The funding for this process would come from one of the Department's Professional Services line item, as part of the General Fund.

In order to maintain as a high priority and acknowledging current workloads, Staff recommends approval of the attached proposal from WSB for Streetscape Design Services.

Motion to recommend that the City Council approve the attached proposal from WSB for Streetscape Design Services.